Impulse
Instant
Look at the top four cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- The List
- Price
- $0.14
- EDHREC rank
- #2541
Impulse digs four cards deep at instant speed for two mana — that's the whole pitch, and it's enough. Any blue deck that triggers off instants or just wants to hit its next land drop reliably should run it, and Talrand, Sky Summoner turns it into a free 2/2 Drake on top of the selection.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Talrand, Sky Summoner
Talrand, Sky Summoner converts every cheap instant into a body, so Impulse is never just card selection — it's card selection stapled to a 2/2 Drake for two mana. At 45% inclusion across Talrand lists, it's close to a staple.
River Song
River Song rewards casting spells in a non-linear order, and Impulse lets you sequence your hand deliberately by burying cards you want to hit later. It's both setup and payoff in the same shell.
Krark, the Thumbless // Sakashima of a Thousand Faces
Krark, the Thumbless // Sakashima of a Thousand Faces wants cheap instants to flip repeatedly, and Impulse at two mana is exactly the kind of low-risk spell that generates value even on a loss — you've already seen four cards before the coin lands.
Kalamax, the Stormsire
Kalamax, the Stormsire copies the first instant you cast each turn while it's tapped, turning Impulse into an eight-card dig for two mana. That kind of selection density at that cost is difficult to pass up.
Balmor, Battlemage Captain
Balmor, Battlemage Captain pumps your team on each instant or sorcery, so Impulse pulls double duty — find the threat you need while also pushing through damage. It's filler that isn't filler in this shell.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Impulse is a reliable one-of that punches above its slot — instant-speed four-deep selection for two mana solves the "need a land or a threat" problem without telegraphing anything to the table. In Pauper it's a genuine format staple, fueling control and combo lists alike because card selection at common rarity is scarce and Impulse is close to the ceiling of what you can get. Legacy and Vintage have Brainstorm and Ponder competing for the same slot, so Impulse sees narrow play there, usually in shells that want redundancy past the first three cantrips. Pioneer and Modern have stronger alternatives at the same cost, but Impulse still shows up in budget builds and anywhere the graveyard needs to stay empty.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.14 bulk tier
At $0.14, Impulse is true bulk — grab a copy out of any common box or pick up a playset for pocket change. That price is stable; there's no spike risk on a card this widely printed, and it will likely stay at this floor indefinitely.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Talrand, Sky Summoner
- River Song
- Krark, the Thumbless // Sakashima of a Thousand Faces
- Kalamax, the Stormsire
- Balmor, Battlemage Captain
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.